In recent years, flat-panel televisions have become enormously popular in both the commercial and the residential sectors. As the prices for plasma and liquid crystal display (LCD) flat panel displays have continued to fall, and as the quality for the same devices have improved, more and more business and individuals have purchased such devices both for business and home entertainment purposes.
One of the advantages of flat-panel television units that customers have found particular appealing is their relatively low thickness. Because conventional “tube” televisions have a relatively large depth, the display options for such devices are quite limited. In the residential setting, most users require a television stand or large entertainment center to store the television. Such stands or entertainment centers can take up significant floor space, which is often undesirable. In the commercial or educational setting, users will often install large overhead mounting systems that can contain the television. However, these systems usually require professional installation and, once the television is secured in the mount, it is often very difficult to access and adjust due to its height.
With flat-panel televisions, on the other hand, users are presented with a relatively new option: mounting the television directly to a wall. By mounting the television to a wall, a person can eliminate the need to take up potentially valuable floor space with a television stand or entertainment unit.
Although the introduction of flat-panel televisions on a wide scale has presented new opportunities to both residential and commercial customers, it has also presented new challenges. In particular, flat panel televisions, while usually having a significantly smaller depth or profile than conventional tube televisions, tend to be quite heavy. Particularly for flat panel televisions with large screens, this weight can become also prohibitively great. With such large weights involved, it is especially important that users can easily, safely, and securely mount the devices without having to make substantial adjustments. Furthermore, with such weights involved and the high costs of such devices, it is extremely important that the device be mounted correctly on the first attempt; if the device is not correctly mounted on the first try, there is a high risk of damaging the device and causing injury to those installing it.
With the above considerations in mind, there have been various attempts to develop mounting systems that address these concerns. However, each system still maintains serious drawbacks. A number of such systems involve the use of mounting brackets that are attached to either the television or to the wall. Prior art FIG. 1 shows one such arrangement, where a prior art mounting bracket 10, which is fixedly secured to a flat panel television 12, must properly mate with first and second retaining portions 14 and 16 of a wall-attached mount. For a proper mating, an upper cavity 18 of the mounting bracket 10 captures the first retaining portion 14, while a lower protrusion is positioned immediately below the second retaining portion 16. However, and as depicted in prior art FIG. 2, if the user slightly misaligns the mounting bracket 10 such that the protrusion 22 is positioned above the second retaining portion 16, then the upper cavity 18 will not receive the first retaining portion 14 due to the impeding of the second retaining portion 16. During this process, the installer must essentially perform this mating while “blind” in that he or she cannot see the position of the first and second retaining portions 14 and 16. As a result, he or she may not know that the upper cavity 18 has not captured the first retaining portion 14 and, if the user lets go of the flat panel television 12, it is likely to fall, causing substantial damage to the flat panel television 12 and potential injury to the installer and/or bystanders. The same problem can occur if the mounting bracket 10 is attached to the wall and the mount is attached to the flat panel television 12.
It would therefore be desirable to develop a system where an installer could quickly and easily determine whether the various mount components are correctly aligned during the installation process.